Recently they were reports of ill-treatment of workers and terrible working conditions at Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe (PLZ)‘s Arcadia lithium project in Goromonzi.
Rudairo Mapuranga
Allegations were that Crec9 a plant construction company contracted by Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe to install one of Africa’s biggest lithium processing plants at the mine that employs over 800 people was subjecting workers to deplorable living conditions.
It has been reported that workers at the lithium mining project were living in dusty metal houses, with no floor or ventilation. Reports also stated that there were no toilets and bathrooms at the workers’ houses with toilets only found 800m away.
It has also been reported that employees were working overtime working for up to 14hrs a day while getting only one meal around 11 am with the meal also being very unbalanced.
There were also allegations of unlawful dismissal of workers and lack of protective clothing with new workers getting PPE after a month. There also were allegations of abuse of women at the mine project by their Chinese employers.
What is on the ground?
On Thursday Mining Zimbabwe visited the Goromonzi-based lithium project to get facts on the matter. It has indeed been noted by this reporter that workers were living in metal houses however allegations that the houses were dusty and with no ventilation could not be established. The reporter however discovered that it was true that the employees were using bathing rooms and toilets that were a bit far from where they were staying. However, there was already a constructed block with bathrooms and toilets that was ready to be used.
When asked about the living conditions, plant construction Operations Manager Mr Gang Min Zhao said that the project was still under construction and that indeed the mine was going to build proper housing structures for its employees. He said Crec 9 as a construction company was there to build houses for Arcadia lithium mine employees, therefore, the houses in which workers are staying were make-shift for the period of construction like at most construction areas. He also said that the workers were not expected to be staying at the project premises since they made it clear Crec9 was not going to provide them with accommodation. He said living at the premises was optional as workers are supposed to return to their respective homes after working hours.
“The houses that the employees are living in are temporary, they are not permanent structures as our duty here as Crec9 is to construct a lithium processing plant and houses for employees of the mine. We are expecting to be done with the construction of the plant by year-end.
“For our employees to be living here is optional where maybe they feel that they want to stay, that’s why we built these temporary shelters after some workers approached us that they sometimes wanted to stay behind as they were coming from distant places with no good road networks. When we constructed the metal houses we overlooked the necessity of constructing bathrooms and toilets nearby. We have however rectified that as you can see from today the employees who will be staying behind have a nearby place to bath,” Mr Zhao said.
On employees working overtime and getting an unbalanced diet, the reporter employed both visual analysis and interviews. The reporter observed that the meal that the workers were having on the day of the investigation was balanced, eating sadza or rice with beef and veggies. Interviewing a randomly picked employee at the mine named Tonde, he said that working hours at the mine were flexible as no one was forced to work overtime, those who were opting to work overtime were doing so because it comes with better benefits than working normal hours (8hrs). He said the food they were getting was just a normal meal that they are used to eating. He said those who stay for overtime are also given a meal in the evening.
“My brother, this is one of the best workplaces I have ever worked in. The meals are good, actually the normal meal that you eat at your house. We have flexible working hours here, we decide with our supervisors what we want to do either working normal hours or overtime. There are a lot of benefits of working overtime so most of us are always asking our supervisors that we continue working because overtime money is a bit good than normal. When we decide to stay here for overtime we are also fed our supper here, a good one too.
“Yes I have heard allegations that we are not being treated fairly, fairly is objective my brother, but to say the conditions are bad I would be lying the conditions here might not be that good but not inhumane, this is a construction site have you ever seen a construction site with hotel-like accommodation,” he said.
This publication also found out that allegations of workers not having protective clothing could not be established as all the workers were in their protective gear.
On workers being fired baselessly, this publication established that most of the workers signed a one-month contract which the employer would choose not to renew due to different reasons. This has led some workers whose contracts could not be renewed to accuse the miner of unfair dismissals.
On sexual assault of women, the reporter established that while there is an isolated case of a woman who is alleging to have been sexually assaulted by a Chinese national, this is not the case with all other women working at the construction site.
Recommendations
The allegations of slavery-like treatment at the mine which is poised to become one of the biggest lithium mines in Africa could bring more problems to the country as it harms how lithium consumers would regard lithium produced in Zimbabwe in terms of responsible sourcing. While it is pertinent that workers’ unions and workers red flag companies that are not treating their workers well, it should be done responsibly without exaggerations as this may lead to our minerals being red-flagged by markets.
While it is true that some salaries are not enough for workers, the National Employment Council (NEC) should be taken to task for putting structures that can lead to the exploitation of labour. It is of importance that NEC consults all worker’s Unions before putting salary structures for workers as this has oftentimes seen workers being disadvantaged.
There has been a rise of allegations of sexual assaults in mining areas, with most of the cases more often than not being used for activism than taken through the courts of law. The reporter, recommends that cases of sexual assault should be reported to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP). Organisations that empower women should constantly educate women to report cases of sexual assault.
The reporter has discovered that there is a language barrier between Chinese Nationals and Zimbabweans, it is of extreme importance to bridge that gap. The reporter recommends that all foreign nationals coming into Zimbabwe be able to communicate in at least one local language. This will bring language barriers or loss in the translation of words as the situation is at most Chinese mines. In this digital age, Chinese supervisors can also make use of language-translating Mobile Applications like Google Translate which translates over 108 languages.
A supervisor will give an order to an employee in Chinese with one interpreter interpreting it into English while another will then translate it into Shona. This chain of translation will lead to the message ending to the user distorted and potentially inaccurate.
For construction companies, it is important not to overlook certain aspects when it comes to employees’ welfare as this will cost them their reputation. Construction companies can simply eradicate the challenge of accommodation by simply providing a bus that transports workers to and from work from a central point like Goromonzi (a distance of 13,6km) in this instance.
There is also a need to bridge the cultural gap between Chinese Nationals and local people, while the Chinese would not mind staying in quarters that have toilets at a distance local people would find that as abuse. Organisations that deal with cultural exchange to educate Chinese Nationals about the country’s work ethics.
The Portfolio Committee on Mines and Mining Development should also step in and visit these Chinese-owned mines for fact-finding.
